Secrets of Monochrome
by Temp SKE
Summary: After Kengo's death, Akira is depressed  even though he tries to hide it like how he usually hides his feelings . Shirogane, being the ever annoying person he is, gets plane tickets to go to the United States. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1: Vacation in the States

**Secrets of Monochrome**

**Summary: **After Kengo's death, Akira is depressed (even though he tries to hide it like how he usually hides his feelings). Shirogane, being the ever annoying person he is, gets plane tickets to go to the United States. Manhattan, New York to be exact. There, Akira and Shirogane run into trouble once again. This time however, it is the godly kind.

**A/N: This is here to help me get rid of some very annoying writers block for ****Black Tennis****. I'll be working on this occasionally and irregularly…maybe. Anyhow, I have a couple of announcements I want to make.**

**So, about this story. This is mainly here to help me clear some writers block for the next chapter in ****Black Tennis**** since I lost some inspiration. And this is also here for pure enjoyment of writing it since I have recently finished reading and watching Monochrome Factor. This will be a mix of both the manga and the anime so Shirogane will not try to kill Akira the moment he sees him but he will still be flirty (I find it rather funny). Akira will still be able to be in his rei (Ryuuko) form but he will use his shin form more often...seeing as there is no point of using a more powerful form unnecessarily. He only uses his rei form when he really needs it since it is more powerful than the shin form. I'm going to assume reis also don't have shadows so I will have Shirogane continue to be Akira's shadow instead of using the creepy voodoo doll like in the anime. Kengo is also dead. But, who knows? I might have him come back to life xD. The book this takes place in is in ****The Last Olympian****. I hope you enjoy the story!**

**Updated: **August 9, 2011 (added a few lines)

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

**Disclaimer: I do not own Monochrome Factor and/or the Percy Jackson Series**

**Chapter 1: Vacation in the States**

"Akira-kun~" Shirogane sung out as he entered the Aging Bar (**A/N: Bar Still for those anime people**) looking for Akira. Akira was currently in his shin form sitting on a stool. Once he heard Shirogane's creepy voice drift in, he immediately shuddered. Shirogane quickly walked over when he located where Akira was sitting and became his shadow. "Akira-kun~ you looked down ever since Kengo died-"

Akira stared over and his eyes glinted dangerously.

"-so I got you a plane ticket to go to the United States!" Shirogane finished quickly, fearing for his life.

"You what?" Akira yelled disbelievingly.

"So, go home and pack! You leave tomorrow night!" Shirogane said, seemingly having gotten his courage back. "Oh, and I'm also coming with you!" and he ran right out the door.

Akira, after having transformed into his shin form once again, and ran out the door chasing Shirogane. "Shirogane!" and following that was a whole set of threats.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe I'm actually here. How did you even manage to get tickets anyway?" Akira asked one he received a room at a hotel. He had luckily been able to get a room with two beds without questions.<p>

"Se-cr-et," Shirogane said while breaking up the syllables.

"Go die and rot in a hole. Do you have any secret motives you're not telling me about?" Akira asked suspiciously.

"No. Why don't you ever trust me Akira-kun?" Shirogane asked, clearly disappointed.

"You should know why without me telling you," Akira said.

Shirogane immediately became quiet when he sensed that the subject had suddenly become serious and was completely off-limits unless you wanted to suffer a painful death. They retreated to their room with not a single word spoken.

* * *

><p>Akira laid wide awake on his bed, unable to fall asleep. One could say it was because he was homesick; or maybe he had too many things on his mind. In fact, the answer would be none of the above. The reason why he laid wide awake was because of all times he pulled all-nighters fighting those damned kokuchi. He was used to either sleeping very late or not sleeping at all. He turned over and saw Shirogane sleeping soundly. 'Guess a jump around the city at night wouldn't hurt.' He sighed and stood up from the bed and headed towards the window. He opened it and felt a gust of wind rush in. He broke the connection with Shirogane and transformed into a shin before he jumped out the window and onto the rooftop of a nearby building. Shirogane, having felt the slight tingle of the connection breaking; woke up from his beauty sleep and glanced at the window, right in time to see Akira leave. He quickly got up, threw on his trench coat, grabbed his hat, slipped on his shoes and was out the window in less than a second. His cane materialized in his hand. He caught sight of Akira and silently followed him. 'Why would he be out this late at night?'<p>

Akira was currently enjoying the feel of the wind that was pushing against him as he jumped from building to building. He was quite thankful for all of the tall buildings, making it easier for him not to be seen. He didn't notice Shirogane following him silently, too absorbed in the trip around town. He looked around at the sights before jumping into a thick forest of trees that could be identified as part of Central Park. Landing next to a fountain, Shirogane decided this was the time to make himself known.

"Akira-kun."

Akira turned his head slightly around and saw Shirogane. He was slightly surprised to see him there but did not show it on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing this late at night?" the true shin countered.

Akira ignored him before looking over to a dark corner near a cluster of trees. He saw a kid walking around. Shirogane, following his gaze, saw what Akira was gazing at. It was a boy; dressed all in black. Suspicious. He watched as the kid look at his surroundings, which was deserted except for Akira and Shirogane. As the boy's eyes roamed around the park, he surveyed it as to make sure there were no observers. His eyes landed on Shirogane and Akira. Akira watched as he squinted before rubbing his eyes and looking back, shaking his head, he muttered something about seeing things. Then he ran towards the nearest tree and disappeared into the shadows. Then, Shirogane blinked in recognition.

**This is the first chapter and I already left you with a cliffhanger! I'm so evil. Yes, this is short since it is only an introductory chapter…ish. I promise that the next chapters are going to be a lot longer. All of you can probably guess who the "mysterious figure" is. I am going to work on ****Black Tennis**** right after this is up so look forward for a new chapter soon!**

**Review**


	2. Chapter 2: Suspicious People

**Secrets of Monochrome**

**A/N: I guess I felt like adding another chapter. ****Black Tennis**** will be continued, I just don't feel up to type it yet and DVP21 has too much school stuff going on. Anyway, here is the next chapter in ****Secrets of Monochrome****!**

**Some MORE news:**

**Jelli posted another story on Fictionpress. It is similar to Prince of Tennis yet very different. It centers on a form of martial arts. But it's not one that currently exists in reality today. It is completely made up and fake. The story also has a supernatural powers twist to it. So please read it and tell us what you think in reviews!**

**Updated: **August 9, 2011 (added a few lines)

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"**Japanese"**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Monochrome Factor and/or the Percy Jackson Series**

**Chapter 2: Suspicious People**

_A few days later…_

Akira and Shirogane, after seeing the mysterious figure that had somehow melted into the shadows a few days before, set out to investigate the strange going-on. However, Shirogane already knew what was going on; he just did not tell Akira about it, despite knowing the outburst that would be directed at him later on. But, he knew if he guarded that secret well enough until they returned to Japan without Akira finding out, everything would be all right. He had a bad feeling that he would fail though.

They were currently walking around in Central Park. Akira in his shin form. As they wandered, they came across a couple of teenagers with black hair studying a pile of rocks. One had on jeans and an orange T-shirt and the other was dressed completely in black. The teen in black had something attached onto his waist that looked suspiciously like a sword. A completely black sword. 'How interesting can a pile of rocks be? And what's with the sword in broad daylight? Is he also a shin?' Akira thought as he walked closer. As he approached, he heard the adolescent in the orange T-shirt suddenly yell out a name, "Grover!"

Shirogane looked over at Akira when he felt him move farther away from him. He furrowed his brows when he saw the sword the kid in black was carrying around. He knew trouble was store when he also noticed Akira walk slowly towards the two boys. Hurriedly, he quickly made his way over to Akira. **"**Akira-kun~" Shirogane started as he tried to draw Akira's attention away from the two boys.

"What do you want Shirogane?" Akira asked in annoyance not drawing his attention away from suspicious pair of boys.

"Moe~ you're always so-"

He was cut off by another teenager, who looked about the age of the kid in orange, fall from a tree head-first to the ground. This was accompanied by a loud thud. However, this teenager was not like the other two; this one had hooves, a furry hind-quarters and horns. Akira, now having his fill of suspicious actions, immediately raced forward with his blades drawn and attempted to slash at the kids, thinking that they were some kind of shin working for Homurabi (**A/N: I am making Homurabi the Homurabi in the anime. So, to sum it up, a crazy lunatic who does not have any good morals at all)**. As he neared the suspicious trio, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by Shirogane and the fall was once again accompanied with yet again, a loud thud. Well, this time it was more of a crash. The suspicious teenagers, hearing the lard thud, quickly glanced over to the pair of supernatural beings. They sent them a questioning glance before walking over quickly. In the hoofed kid's case, more like trotted. They were able to catch a part of the conversation that was being shot back and forth in a foreign language. They wondered why everyone was walking by calmly as if the two weirdly dressed people weren't there at all. Little did they know, they weren't far from the answer to the situation at all.

"**Shirogane! Get off!"**

"**Not unless you promise you won't attack those children,"** Shirogane shot back, refusing to get up.

"**Why? Is there something you're not telling me again?"**

Shirogane tensed and this movement did not go unnoticed by Akira. **"Shirogane…"** he growled dangerously, demanding for an explanation.

"**Um…well…you see…Akira-kun…"** Shirogane stumbled over his words as he got up and slowly retreated away from Akira.

"Hey…uh…is everything all right here?"

**Nico POV (A/N: A little POV change for all of you to see the scene from a different perspective !)**

Percy and I stood in front of the Door of Orpheus trying to figure out how we could open it.

"How's your singing?" I asked him.

We debated for a bit on how to get the door to open. "I have a better idea," he notified me, "Grover!"

As we waited, I vaguely felt someone trying to sneak up on us but it didn't feel like it was a person. So, I paid it no mind. I could faintly hear a conversation between two people behind me. They definitely weren't from the U.S considering their slight accent.

I looked over to Percy and saw that he had shut his eyes and was concentrating. I assumed that he was trying to get his empathy link with Grover to start up. I decided to try using my Hades' powers to open the door despite what I said about it not going to work earlier. A few seconds passed before Percy suddenly almost fell over. He was able to catch himself.

"What happened?"

"I got through. He's…yeah. He's on his way."

We waited for about what seemed like a minute before suddenly out of nowhere, someone fell out of the tree that was above us. This someone, I recognized. It was Grover. Once he had crash landed on top of his head, I fight a slight wind blow from behind me, as if someone was running at top speed at me. But before I could turn around to see what it was, I heard two bodies fall to the floor. Grover, Percy and my head immediately shot over to look what had made that thud. Our eyes met the sight of two guys; one on top of the other. One had extremely long silver or white hair that was tied into a braid that was secured by a golden band and fell down behind his back. His skin was impossibly pale, almost blending in with his hair. He wore a long black trench coat, a hat, white gloves, and held a cane that was topped with a funny-looking skull. My first thought: the epitome of suspicious people. The other guy – the one that was trying to get the other off of him — had black hair that was somewhat long and spiky. He wore a white dress shirt that was underneath a black vest that fanned out like a cape in the back. His red pants had bandages wrapped around one leg. He also wore combat boots. In his hands, he held what looked like swords but seemed more similar to a saw. A suspicious pair of foreigners. Terrorists? Nah, not likely. Then a sudden thought formed in my head. Kronos' cronies? (**A/N: Kronos, cronies? Heh heh? You get it? No? Yes?) **Possibly.

As we walked closer I could hear the one with the black hair yelling in some foreign language at the white haired one. I felt that something was off about them. I looked at the ground near their feet and the answer suddenly showed itself to me. They had no shadows. Being the son of Hades, I knew everything had a shadow, take it from experience shadow traveling.

"Percy," I whispered quietly. He looked over in a questioning glance. "Look at their feet."

He looked back at me in confusion, "What about their feet?"

I groaned before hissing out, "They have no shadows!"

Both Grover and Percy looked back over and realization dawned on them.

"Maybe they're some kind of monster we never heard about before?" Percy asked.

"No," Grover cut in, "they don't smell like monsters…in fact…they smell like something different…old and powerful like the gods. But definitely not human."

I frowned at that declaration. We went back to studying the scene; the black haired one growled something to the other and the one in the trench coat tensed and slowly retreated back after getting up.

"Hey…uh…is everything all right here?" Percy asked before I could stop him.

**I leave you on a cliffhanger...anyways, I left off here because I wanted to dedicate the next chapter to something else entirely. So, yeah. Don't have much else to say. I just noticed, I say "anyway" a lot.**

**Review**


	3. Chapter 3: Answersish

**Secrets of Monochrome**

**A/N: This chapter is where some of the events in the book are majorly changed. I hope it is clear enough!**

**Notices: I am planning to add sort of an OC into Black Tennis. The OC wouldn't really be considered one since she has her own story on Fictionpress. She stars in the story The Silver Martial Artist. Her background isn't explained yet in the story since it was just recently started. The story isn't very different from Prince of Tennis so you will probably enjoy it if you read it. It has a supernatural twist to it and involves demons, like Kuroshitsuji, just a very different situation.**

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

**Disclaimer: I do not own Monochrome Factor and/or the Percy Jackson Series**

**Chapter 3: Answers…ish**

"_Hey…uh…is everything all right here?" Percy asked._

**Shirogane and Akira's POV (third person-ish)**

Shirogane stopped mumbling as he looked up along with Akira to look at where the voice originated from. Shirogane, once he saw who it was, cursed his luck.

"Yes, yes, everything is just fine," Shirogane assured in English.

Akira glared at Shirogane before yelling out, "So, would you _mind_ telling me why you pushed me over earlier?" Then he turned to face the 3 boys, "And, how can you see us?"

There were confused faces exchanged and Shirogane started trying to find an excuse again but to no avail.

"You see, Akira-kun, these people are-"

"Are you two monsters?" the kid clad black interrupted, "And what did you mean 'how can we see you?'"

Akira glanced over in confusion, "Monsters?"

"Well, you are dressed weirdly for one," the kid in orange (no hooves) said.

"And you have no shadows," the one in black added. Akira was shocked that the kid actually noticed the lack of shadows.

"But you two don't smell like monsters…"

"Well then. If we could find somewhere more private…I think we can _all_ provide a good explanation. And no, we are anything BUT monsters. Don't group us in the same category as those mindless…things!" Shirogane voiced his thoughts. "Do any of you know where we can talk without being overheard?"

"We could go to camp…but how can we trust you two?"

"We would've killed all of you easily by now if that was what we were aiming for," Akira said emotionlessly.

* * *

><p>Introductions were made as they sat in a taxi. The one that they had found managed to fit all of them. After hours of traveling to seemingly nowhere, they had finally stopped at the base of a hill.<p>

"You sure you kids want to make a stop here? There's nothing here," the taxi driver said.

"Yeah, we're sure," and Percy said and handed the man a few 10 dollar bills. The guy accepted the money and drove off without another word.

"Well, here we are," Percy said. "Just head up the hill."

They group headed up the hill just like Percy instructed. Once they were at the top, Shirogane and Akira noticed that there was something shimmery glinting on the branches of the pine tree. And then, their gaze slid lower before they noticed something purple (**A/N: I do not know what color Peleus is)**. As they got closer, Akira could make out that this purple thing was actually a living thing. "A dragon!" he yelled out.

"That's Peleus. He guards the camp and the Golden Fleece. So the camp is just beyond the pine tree."

Akira quickly composed himself before putting on his usual bored expression. "Mm…" he mumbled. When they got to camp borders, Akira and Shirogane finally noticed the camp.

"So, nothing has really changed, huh?" Shirogane muttered quietly.

Akira sent him a weird look, having heard what he said.

They continued walking; not noticing the questioning looks being sent from behind them when they entered the magically bordered camp without any trouble.

"So, anywhere in particular you had in mind to go to talk?"

"We should go to the Big House then," Shirogane cut in unexpectedly.

"How do you know that there was a building called the Big House here?" Grover asked, suspicious.

"So, nothing has really changed, has it?" Shirogane replied cryptically as he made his way to the Big House. Everyone who was training stopped what they were doing and looked over at the white haired man walking calmly through the camp as if he owned it.

* * *

><p>"Shirogane…what's happening here?"<p>

Akira and Shirogane had reached the Big House. Shirogane was right outside the door and about to go in when he was suddenly stopped once again by Akira.

"Just trust me, Akira-kun." he sighed.

"You always say that, but how can I trust you when you never tell me anything? And how you tried to kill me once…just because you wouldn't face reality," Percy frowned at this statement, wondering what could have gone wrong between those two.

Ignoring the complaint, Shirogane turned the door knob and walked inside the house. Despite all the decorations that usually would not be found in a regular house (**A/N: I have no clue what the Big House looks like, so I'm making this up as I go)** Akira didn't even bat an eye to it all. "Percy, shouldn't we notify Chiron and Mr. D that we have visitors first?" Nico said…right when said half-horse man and god walked into the room. Speak of the devil.

"Peter Johnson, shouldn't you be training right now?" Mr. D asked, not noticing the two extra people who did not usually go to camp sitting in armchairs, making themselves at home.

Chiron, on the other hand did notice the other two people. He recognized the face of Shirogane, and vaguely recognized Akira. He was just...a younger, short haired, version of Ryuuko; with a rather drastic wardrobe change.

"Shirogane-sama," Chiron said, knowing that Shirogane would rather be referred to with a Japanese honorific, rather than having 'lord' attached to his name. "And…Ryuuko-sama."

"I'm not-"

"This is Akira-kun, Chiron. I'm afraid Ryuuko has…moved on…and we're old friends. Please just call me Shirogane, don't bother with honorific," Shirogane cut off Akira and explained.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I am Chiron, the activities director here at Camp Half Blood. Though you probably don't know what a half blood is yet, but it will be explained soon enough." Chiron introduced.

Everyone else watched this weird exchange in question, all of them except Mr. D. They all wondered how Chiron knew these people. Well, one of them.

"Chiron… how do you know them…well, Shirogane at least," Percy asked.

Chiron opened his mouth to respond but was cut off with Mr. D saying, "Well, I don't expect your petty mortal minds to comprehend this. But, I guess we have no choice but to tell you; since you brought these two to camp. Chiron, call in a counselor meeting."

"Percy, Nico, Grover, Shirogane, do you mind explaining everything to Akira-kun while I have the counselors gather together?'

* * *

><p>"You're all probably wondering why you're all here," Chiron said uncomfortably, having never had to talk about this before. "But, I hope you all can be flexible and accept this situation."<p>

"What's this problem, stop avoiding the subject and get to the point," Clarisse complained sitting with both feet on the table and sharpening a dagger.

"Yes, you're right. Most of you have already seen these two walk through camp while you all were training." Shirogane and Akira walked in right then and there. Those had been the keywords that were arranged earlier to decide when to have Shirogane and Akira come in the room. They grabbed two rather heavy looking chairs as if they weighed nothing and took a seat near Chiron. Everyone watched their movements with curiosity. "Percy, Nico and Grover happened to come across these two while they were…traveling. The one with the white hair is Shirogane-sama and the one with the black is Akira-sama."

"Why are they so important and how did they get through the border? They don't look any special to me," Clarisse pointed out rather rudely.

"And why the Japanese honorific. You make them sound…very important," Annabeth asked since she _is_ the daughter of Athena.

"I will get to that now. You see, the world has much more than you know. Greek gods are not the only powerful beings that exist-

"What?" Nico yelled out, he was here because he was one of the ones who brought in Shirogane and Akira. He did have a right to hear everything even if he wasn't a counselor. "And we didn't know about this until now? Why?"

"Calm down Nico, everything will be explained if everyone stopped interrupting me." Chiron chided. "As I was saying, these two are what you can call immortal. But, they can die. When they die, instead of going to the underworld like normal souls, they are reincarnated so that they will continue to exist. Akira-sama here is a perfect example."

"Please stop using the honorific Chiron. Shirogane already told you not to. We are in America right now, not Japan," Akira complained without emotion as usual. He wasn't used to so much respect directed to him. He leaned his head onto an arm he supported on the arm of his chair.

"Ah~ Akira-kun, you finally agree with me on something~!" Shirogane suddenly exclaimed aloud, glomping Akira. Not at the right moment either.

"Shut up!" Akira yelled out as he reached out and gave him yet another punch. He put enough strength in it to knock Shirogane out of his seat and right into the wall. Every eye was on him as he stood up, straightened out his clothes, replaced his hat which had fallen off from the impact before returning to his seat.

"That hurt Akira-kun," Shirogane whined.

"I don't care," was the short reply he received.

Everyone watched this exchange silently and closely, never having seen this kind of display of affection before. An awkward silence commenced.

"Er…as I was saying," Chiron broke through awkwardly, "Akira here is a reincarnation of a previous king, Ryuuko."

"King of what?" Percy asked.

"Akira is the direct royal of rei, or light. And Shirogane is the direct royal of shin, or shadow. And through that, their existence is crucial for the existence of this world."

"What's a direct royal?" Michael Yew asked.

"We are the actual beings of shadow and light. That is what a direct royal is." Shirogane explained. "Chiron, we can take over now.

"So to summarize all of what Chiron said, Akira and I are direct royals of our respective element. Akira is a reincarnation of Ryuuko, the previous direct king of rei. The direct royals cannot fully disappear from the world; when they die, they go through a reincarnation cycle. You all have that?" Everyone nodded. "There are two kings for each element. There are the direct kings and the other two kings support the directs. Shuichi is the other light king and Homurabi is the other dark king." Akira's face grew dark when the latter's name was mentioned. Percy noticed a tinge of pain and regret in Akira's eyes but didn't comment on it.

Akira recovered then took over, "I wasn't born knowing I was the King of rei. I wasn't even born a rei, or a shin for that matter."

"Then what were you born as?" Katie asked.

"A human. Shirogane found me a few months earlier. Homurabi had killed Ryuuko and exiled Shirogane in that moment of weakness before taking over the shadow world as a tyrant. Shuichi went into hiding because he knew he would be next to whatever that would happen. Homurabi was defeated only a few months ago…and somebody here decided to try and kill me!" Akira voice rose at the last few words while glaring murderously at Shirogane.

"Um…the past is in the past right? Akira?" Shirogane stumbled over his words nervously. He sensed the dark aura that was surrounding Akira. "And what about Ken-"

"Shut up. Don't you dare…" he let that threat hang in the air.

Everyone quieted down when they saw Akira avert his eyes to the wall. 'Something bad really must've happened between them.' Nico thought.

Akira composed himself quickly before saying, "I can still become human, Shirogane just has to become my shadow. Otherwise I will need to use this thing." And he flung the creepy voodoo doll onto the center of the table. It winked at them. Everyone moved their chairs back immediately.

"Well, that concludes this explanation. We'll just be staying here for a while. Depends on Akira-kun." Shirogane wrapped up.

Everyone sat in silence, each wallowing in their own thoughts. The silence went on for a few minutes until Percy suggested, "Chiron, do you think it's possible for them to help out in the war?"

"It all depends on what they want," Chiron replied, "If they don't want to, they don't, they have their own worlds to manage after all." Every eye turned to them and the pair of kings turned to each other to discuss what they wanted.

"It's fine Chiron, we can help," Shirogane said after a minute of discussing it with Akira.

"Fine, then this meeting is dismissed.'

**Ack. I hope this chapter is clear enough for all of you to understand. I took my dad's computer to work on this on the car . I was renewing my passport so I can go to Taiwan. So I might not be writing the next chapter for Black Tennis at Taiwan since there is no internet connection. Sorry for the delay in chapter 6! I will try to get it done by today or tomorrow, but I highly doubt that will happen. **


	4. Chapter 4: Certain problems

**Secrets of Monochrome**

**Kat's Corner: Well, sorry for the VERY long delay. Had to find time to do this! And I'm studying for the ISEE so…updates will be kind of slow at times. Sorry about that! Ah yes and, thank you to those few people who have reviewed! I'm writing for you guys! And I found an online version of TLO so I copy pasted most of this and changed it all to third person. And I added lines into it to be able to incorporate Akira and Shirogane. And, I have edited the past few chapters by adding a few lines into them. So, pretty much, new ideas. Enjoy! **

**IMPORTANT: **I will put a poll up and ask, "Should I revive Kengo?" I have a faint idea on how it would work…but it's up to you!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

**Disclaimer: I do not own Monochrome Factor and/or Percy Jackson Series**

**Chapter 4: Certain…Problems**

"Where could they be?"

Akira, Shirogane and the rest of the camp were currently looking for Nico, Percy and Grover. They had disappeared once the meeting was over. No one could find them. The two kings continued searching around camp by hopping from place to place for about another hour or so before the sun started going down. They were ready to turn in for the day. It was clear to them that the boys were not at camp, after looking in every nook and cranny possible. They hopped back over to the Big House and right in front of Chiron.

"I'm sorry, but we only have one extra room available at the moment. I hope you don't mind sharing," Chiron notified them. Akira opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Shirogane.

"No, we had to share Akira-kun's room all the time when we fought kokuchi," Shirogane answered with a smile, glancing mischievously at Akira.

"Thank you. Shirogane, you know the way." Akira just followed in with a scowl on his face.

* * *

><p>It was morning, breakfast time. Akira exited the Big House, yawning loudly while he made his way over to the dining pavilion. He was currently in his human form with Shirogane attached to him as his shadow. As he sat down at the table for the Big House, every eye was on him. They all wondered who this brunette was with the uncanny resemblance to Akira. He didn't notice a thing however and instead saying, "Shirogane, separate."<p>

Everyone looked in wonder as Shirogane formed from the shadow that belonged to Akira. Akira's khaki colored hair morphed into black while his red eyes blinked into existence. His outfit also changed into his shin form's outfit. At that time, did he notice the stares, "What? I did say I can turn into a human." And everyone returned back to their food.

As food was brought out by nymphs, campers all approached a bonfire and scraped in a part of their meal. Suddenly, Annabeth yelled out an exclamation. "It's Percy!" Everyone tuned to look at Annabeth and waited for her to continue. Anxious to here where Percy had gone. Well, except the Ares cabin. "He left a message for me on my cell phone."

"Since when did he get a cell phone?" Travis yelled out.

"He says he's using his mom's. Anyway, he wants us to meet him at the empire state building. He says he has a plan to start the war."

"Then I guess we will need to get go-"

"We're not going."

The eyes of everyone in the dining pavilion turned to where the voice originated from. They all saw Clarisse with her arms crossed across her chest, a look on her face that clearly said "no arguments." Anyone with eyes could see that nothing, unless there was a miracle, would change her mind.

Chiron sighed. He knew that it would be pointless arguing with her. "Fine. Then will you be okay with staying behind to guard the camp?"

"Fine by us. As long as we're not going to be in the actual war. Not until we get that chariot."

Sighing again, Chiron commanded, "Campers, once you finish breakfast, go suit up and gather at Thalia's tree."

* * *

><p>Shirogane and Akira were sitting on top of the white camp trucks that usually exported strawberries from the camp. But instead of strawberries, the trucks were exporting demigods that were dressed ready for battle to the Empire State Building. A few more minutes later, they finally reached the entrance to Olympus. They hopped off of the truck while demigods were piling out. Percy looked happy to see all of them. They watched as Annabeth approached Percy and they had a quick and quiet conversation.<p>

Percy turned to look at everyone before letting Chiron take command. He turned it down however, saying that Percy is leading the defense of Olympus now. Percy's face made him look like he wanted to protest but decided against it.

"We've got to get an audience with Zeus," Percy said, "and convince him to protect the city instead of battling Typhon."

After he got Argus to watch Mrs. O'Leary, Chiron walked up to him to give him his regards before he left to take care of some…business.

"Let's go." And they walked into the building. They approached the front desk and a security guard with a bald head and blue eyes reading a black book glanced up at them, clearly annoyed from being interrupted. "School group? We're about to close up." He notified.

After some threats, agreements and negotiations, not necessarily in that order, were made between him and Percy; the security guard allowed them access to the elevator. Shirogane and Akira agreed to go on different trips up the elevator. Just in case an attack happened during the elevator ride. Akira went on the first, suffering through a few minutes of bad elevator music. Very bad. By the time the elevator dinged to signify that they have reached the 600th floor, mostly everyone was ready to kill themselves. As they waited for the second group to come up, Akira glanced around Olympus. To say that he wasn't surprised at how breathtakingly beautiful it was would be an understatement. He didn't really care at all.

A few moments later, the second group emerged from the elevator and they made their way to throne room. As they walked through Olympus, Akira glanced around and noticed how…empty it looked. Like everyone had abandoned the place. The walk to the throne room was short and swift. And soon enough, everyone was gathered inside of the room that was bigger than Maddison Square Garden. On the ceiling were constellations that glittered brilliantly. The twelve thrones were located in the center of the room and were arranged in the shape of an U. In one corner of the room was a sphere of water. Inside the sphere was a half cow…serpent…thing. It mooed once it saw Percy walked into the room.

"That's the Ophiotaurus," Shirogane bent down and stuck his head on Akira's shoulder. Akira quickly batted away the face that was invading his personal space with the back of his hand. Despite liking the information that was provided, he wasn't about to show that anytime soon.

They watched as Percy approached the Ophiotaurus and greeted it warmly before heading towards the thrones; everyone followed him. Once they had reached the thrones, a warm woman's voice drifted from the hearth that was located in the center of the thrones. Inside the U, "Hello again, Percy Jackson. You and your friends are welcome." The voice was revealed to have originated from a woman dressed in simple brown robes. She was standing by the hearth while poking at it with a stick.

"Lady Hestia," Percy greeted and bowed at the same time. Everyone followed suit. Except Shirogane and Akira; they gave a little nod. Both not bowing on different reasons. Unlike Shirogane, who didn't bow because he knew that he was on the same status as the Olympians, Akira didn't bow based on instinct. Based on the memories he inherited from Ryuuko. Hestia nodded back in greeting.

Hestia regarded them with her glowing red eyes. "I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles."

The other campers started muttering among themselves: What did she say? What about Achilles.

"You must be careful," Hestia warned Percy. "You gained much on your journey. But you are still blind to the most important truth. Perhaps a glimpse is in order." After that statement was made, Percy looked into the goddess' eyes before immediately collapsing.

"Um, Lady Hestia," Percy started after recovering, "we've come on urgent business. We need to see-"

"We know what you need," a man's voice cut him off. A god shimmered into existence next to Hestia. He looked about twenty-five, with curly salt-and-pepper hair and elfish features. He wore a military pilot's flight suit, with tiny bird's wings fluttering on his helmet and his black leather boots. In the crook of his arm was a long staff entwined with two living serpents. It was obvious to everyone who this god was.

"I will leave you now," Hestia said. She bowed to the aviator and disappeared into smoke. I understood why she was so anxious to go. Hermes, the God of Messengers, did not look happy.

"Hello, Percy." His brow furrowed when he looked at Percy. Observing who was among the group, he noticed two other people among the demigods. "Shirogane…and…erm…"

"Akira. And Ryuuko's dead." Akira provided rather monotonously. Hermes nodded in understanding, not wanting to press on the subject.

Turning his attention back to Percy, Percy said, "Lord Hermes," And then adding, "Hello, George. Hey Martha."

"Um, Hermes," Percy said. "We need to talk to Zeus. It's important." Hermes's eyes were steely cold.

"I am his messenger. May I take a message?" The demigods shifted restlessly, wanted to move around. Their ADHD was getting the best of them.

"You guys," Percy ordered. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defenses. See who's left in Olympus. Meet Annabeth and me back here in thirty minutes."

"That's a good idea," Annabeth added. "Connor and Travis, you two lead." The Stolls seemed to like that-getting handed an important responsibility right in front of their dad. They usually never led anything except toilet paper raids.

"We're on it!" Travis said. They herded the others out of the throne room, leaving Annabeth and Percy with Hermes and the Kings.

"My lord," Annabeth said. "Kronos is going to attack New York. You must suspect that. My mother must have foreseen it."

"Your mother," Hermes grumbled. He scratched his back with his caduceus. "Don't get me started on your mother, young lady. She's the reason I'm here at all. Zeus didn't want any of us to leave the front line. But your mother kept pestering him nonstop, 'It's a trap, it's a diversion, blah, blah, blah.' She wanted to come back herself, but Zeus was not going to let his number one strategist leave his side while we're battling Typhon. And so naturally he sent me to talk to you."

"But it is a trap!" Annabeth insisted. "Is Zeus blind?" Thunder rolled through the sky.

"I'd watch the comments, girl," Hermes warned. "Zeus is not blind or deaf. He has not left Olympus completely undefended."

"But there are these blue lights-"

"Yes, yes. I saw them. Some mischief by that insufferable goddess of magic, Hecate, I'd wager, but you may have noticed they aren't doing any damage. Olympus has strong magical wards. Besides, Aeolus, the King of the Winds, has sent his most powerful minions to guard the citadel. No one save the gods can approach Olympus from the air. They would be knocked out of the sky."

I raised my hand. "Um…What about that materializing, teleporting thing you guys do?"

"That's a form of air travel too, Jackson. Very fast, but the wind gods are faster. No, if Kronos wants Olympus, he'll have to march through the entire city with his army and take the elevators! Can you see him doing this?" Hermes made it sound pretty ridiculous-hordes of monsters going up in the elevator twenty at a time, listening to 'Stayin' Alive.'

"Maybe just a few of you can come back?" Percy suggested.

Hermes shook his head impatiently. "Percy Jackson, you don't understand. Typhon is our greatest enemy."

"I thought that was Kronos." The god's eyes glowed.

"No, Percy. In the old days, Olympus was almost overthrown by Typhon. He is husband of Echidna and the father of all monsters. We can never forget how close he came to destroying us all; how he humiliated us! We were more powerful back in the old days. Now we can expect no help from Poseidon because he's fighting his own war. Hades sits in his realm and does nothing, and Demeter and Persephone follow his lead. It will take all our remaining power to oppose the storm giant. We can't divide our forces, nor wait until he gets to New York. We have to battle him now. And we're making progress. "

"Progress?" Akira asked incredulously. "He nearly destroyed St. Louis!"

"Yes," Hermes admitted. "But he destroyed only half of Kentucky. He's slowing down. Losing power." It sounded like Hermes was trying to convince himself. In the corner, the Ophiotaurus mooed sadly.

"Please, Hermes," Annabeth said. "You said my mother wanted to come. Did she give you any messages for us?"

"Messages," he muttered. "'It'll be a great job," they told me. "Not much work. Lots of worshippers. Hmph. Nobody cares what I have to say. It's always about other people's messages."

The god looked at Annabeth, who was doing her big -pleading-gray- eyes thing. "Bah," Hermes said. "Your mother said to warn you that you are on your own. You must hold Manhattan without the help of the gods. As if I didn't know that. Why they pay her to be the wisdom goddess, I'm not sure."

"Anything else?" Annabeth asked.

"She said you should try plan twenty-three. She said you would know what that meant." Annabeth's face paled. Obviously she knew what it meant, and she didn't like it. "Also, for you Akira. Athena said you would need help from your mutt."

"I see…things are really bad…aren't they?"

"Last thing." Hermes looked at me. "She said to tell Percy: 'Remember the rivers.' And, um, something about staying away from her daughter." Shirogane watched as both demigods blushed deep red.

"Thank you, Hermes," Annabeth said. "And I…I wanted to say…I'm sorry about Luke." The god's expression hardened like he'd turned to marble.

"You should've left that subject alone." Annabeth stepped back nervously.

"Sorry?"

"SORRY doesn't cut it!" George and Martha curled around the caduceus, which shimmered and changed into something that looked suspiciously like a high- voltage cattle prod. "You should've saved him when you had the chance," Hermes growled at Annabeth. "You're the only one who could have."

I tried to step between them. "What are you talking about? Annabeth didn't-"

"Don't defend her, Jackson!" Hermes turned the cattle prod toward me. "She knows exactly what I'm talking about."

"Maybe you should blame yourself! Maybe if you hadn't abandoned Luke and his mom!" Hermes raised his cattle prod. He began to grow until he was ten feet tall. Shirogane and Akira immediately bent down into a ready position; ready to protect Annabeth if it was necessary. But as he prepared to strike, George and Martha leaned in close and whispered something in his ear. Hermes clenched his teeth. He lowered the cattle prod, and it turned back to a staff.

"Percy Jackson," he said, "because you have taken on the curse of Achilles, I must spare you. You are in the hands of the Fates now. But you will never speak to me like that again. You have no idea how much I have sacrificed, how much-" His voice broke, and he shrank back to human size. "My son, my greatest pride…My poor May…" He sounded so devastated. One minute he was ready to vaporize them. Now he looked like he needed a hug.

"Look, Lord Hermes," I said. "I'm sorry, but I need to know. What happened to May? She said something about Luke's fate and her eyes-" Hermes glared at me, and my voice faltered. The look on his face wasn't really anger, though. It was pain. Deep, incredible pain.

"I will leave you now," he said tightly. "I have a war to fight." He began to shine. Percy and Annabeth turned away from Hermes.

Hermes glowed with the light of a supernova. Then he was gone. Annabeth sat at the foot of her mother's throne and cried. Akira and Shirogane, seeing as they needed a private moment, exited the throne room soundlessly.

* * *

><p>Outside, the pair of Kings couldn't help but notice the lights in the sky fading from existence.<p>

"Akira-kun. You should call in Kou now."

Nodding in agreement, he dove into his own mind, trying to find the telepathic link he uses to communicate with Kou. 'Kou-nii, need you here at Olympus. Outside of the throne room.'

Not a second later, a deeper voice said in his mind, 'Olympus? Why are you there? How are you there?'

Akira, not wanting to start an argument, growled in a commanding tone, 'Now. No arguments.'

Right then and there, a bright flash of light, and Kou appeared in his giant dog form.

"Aww, and I was in the middle of a fight too! What do you need me for?" Kou whined.

"You'll get a bigger fight here. All the monsters you can kill. It'll be a free for all. Apparently Kronos, the ever big idiot he is, is starting a fight with Olympus…again," Shirogane explained with a sudden personality change.

Just then, Conner and Travis came running. Both out of breath by the time they reached the pair plus a dog. The twins stared at Kou, not knowing what to say. Travis, getting his wits back faster, said, "Shirogane…was it sama?" After receiving a nod he continued, "Akira-sama! You've got to see this!" They both then ran into the throne room before returning with Percy and Annabeth.

"That's your dog?" Percy asked uncertainly.

"Don't call me a dog!"

The demigods jumped back after hearing the voice. They watched in shock as the pure white dog morphed into a human dressed in a white suit with black straps tied all over his body. He also had some rather sharp looking metal claws for fingers. Kou's hair was black and he had a scar over one of his eyes.

"He's a rei. One of my followers." Akira notified. "And now, what did we need to see?"

* * *

><p>The other campers had gathered in a small park at the edge of the mountain. They were clustered at the guardrail, looking down at Manhattan. The railing was lined with those tourist binoculars, where you could deposit one golden drachma and see the city. Campers were using every single one. No one noticed the extra person by the name of Kou arrive at the park along with the demigods and kings. "I don't…Hear anything," Annabeth said.<p>

That was the problem. Even from this height, there should have been the endless sound of cars. New York was never quiet, even at night, everyone knew that first hand. "What did they do?" Percy's voice sounded tight and angry. "What did they do to my city?" He pushed Michael Yew away from the binoculars and took a look. Akira, Shirogane and Kou looked down from the side and with their incredible eyesight, they saw that in the streets below, traffic had stopped. Pedestrians were lying on the sidewalks, or curled up in doorways. There was no sign of violence, no wrecks, nothing like that. It was as if all the people in New York had simply decided to stop whatever they were doing and pass out.

"Are they dead?" Silena asked in astonishment.

"Not dead," Percy said. "Morpheus has put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."

**Heehee, I bet this chapter was a bit boring…but the action all starts in the next chapter! And Kou has been put into play, what kind of disasters could he start up?**

**Review**


	5. Chapter 5: The War Begins

**Secrets of Monochrome**

**Gummi's Jar: School's starting tomorrow Dx…depressed that summer is ending this way…So. Damn. Boring. So, here I am trying to make use of my time…writing this up to the few people that are reading it! Need to finish my summer reading too, but whatever. This chapter may be a bit boring…**

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

**Disclaimer: I do not own Monochrome Factor and/or Percy Jackson Series**

**Chapter 5: The War Begins… (couldn't find a better title)**

The three light and dark beings jumped off the side of the viewing area on Olympus. They had decided to take the faster way down to Earth. Upon landing, they waited as the first herd of demigods emerged from the Empire State Building. Kou had reverted to his normal human form with the white dress shirt, jeans, black jacket and glasses. They saw Mrs. O'Leary pigging out at an overturned hot dog stand while the owner was curled up on the sidewalk, sucking his thumb. As the last group of demigods walked out of the skyscraper, they all walked up to Argus who was waiting for them with his hundred eyes wide open. He didn't say anything. He never does. But his face made it clear he was freaking out. The demigods who walked past the two royals sent them a questioning look; no doubt asking about who the mysterious man clad in casual clothes was.

Percy told Argus what they'd learned in Olympus, and how the gods would not be riding to the rescue. Argus rolled his eyes in disgust, which looked pretty psychedelic since it made his whole body swirl.

Percy requested that Argus go back to camp, to guard it at the best that he could. But before he left, he looked at Annabeth and drew a circle in the air with his finger.

"Yes," Annabeth agreed. "I think it's time."

"For what?" Percy asked. Argus rummaged around in the back of his van. He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Annabeth. It looked pretty much standard issue-the same kind of round shield they used in capture the flag. But when Annabeth set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from sky and buildings to the Statue of Liberty – which wasn't anywhere close to their current location.

"Whoa," Percy said. "A video shield."

"One of Daedalus's ideas," Annabeth explained. "I had Beckendorf make this before-" She glanced at Silena. "Um, anyway, the shield bends sunlight or moonlight from anywhere in the world to create a reflection. You can literally see any target under the sun or moon, as long as natural light is touching it. Look."

Everyone crowded around as Annabeth concentrated. The image zoomed and spun at first. They were in the Central Park Zoo, then zooming down East 60th, past Bloomingdale's, then turning on Third Avenue.

"Whoa," Connor Stoll said. "Back up. Zoom in right there."

"What?" Annabeth said nervously. "You see invaders?"

"No, right there – Dylan's Candy Bar." Connor grinned at his brother. "Dude, it's open. And everyone is asleep. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Connor!" Katie Gardner scolded. She sounded like her mother, Demeter. "This is serious. You are not going to loot a candy store in the middle of a war!"

"Sorry," Connor muttered, but he didn't sound very ashamed. Annabeth passed her hand in front of the shield, and another scene popped up: FDR Drive, looking across the river at Lighthouse Park.

"This will let us see what's going on across the city," she said. "Thank you, Argus. Hopefully we'll see you back at camp…someday. "

Argus grunted. He gave Percy a look that clearly meant _Good luck; you'll need it_, then climbed into his van. He and the two harpy drivers swerved away, weaving around clusters of idle cars that littered the road.

Percy whistled for Mrs. O'Leary, and she came bounding over, chewing on a hot dog. He gave instructions for her to go look for Grover before Mrs. O'Leary gave him a sloppy wet kiss, then raced off north.

Pollux crouched next to a sleeping policeman. "I don't get it. Why didn't we fall asleep too? Why just the mortals?"

"This is a huge spell," Silena Beauregard said. "The bigger the spell, the easier it is to resist. If you want to sleep millions of mortals, you've got to cast a very thin layer of magic. Sleeping demigods is much harder."

Everyone stared at her. "When did you learn so much about magic?"

Silena blushed. "I don't spend all my time on my wardrobe."

"Percy," Annabeth called. She was still looking at the shield. "You'd better see this."

Akira, Shirogane and Kou looked over, but were careful not to block out the light. The bronze image showed Long Island Sound near La Guardia. A fleet of a dozen speed boats raced through the dark water toward Manhattan. Each boat was packed with demigods in full Greek armor. At the back of the lead boat, a purple banner emblazoned with a black scythe flapped in the night wind. I'd never seen that design before, but it wasn't hard to figure out: the battle flag of Kronos.

"Scan the perimeter of the island," Shirogane said, immediately switching to commander mode. "Quick."

Annabeth shifted the scene south to the harbor. A Staten Island Ferry was plowing through the waves near Ellis Island. The deck was crowded with _dracaenae_ and a whole pack of hellhounds. Swimming in front of the ship was a pod of marine mammals – telkhines.

The scene shifted again: the Jersey shore, right at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. A hundred assorted monsters were marching past the lanes of stopped traffic: giants with clubs, rogue Cyclopes, a few fire-spitting dragons, and just to rub it in, a World War II-era Sherman tank, pushing cars out of its way as it rumbled into the tunnel.

"What's happening with the mortals outside Manhattan?" Shirogane said. "Is the whole state asleep?"

Annabeth frowned. "I don't think so, but it's strange. As far as I can tell from these pictures, Manhattan is totally asleep. Then there's like a fifty-mile radius around the island where time is running really, really slow. The closer you get to Manhattan, the slower it is."

She showed them another scene –a New Jersey highway. It was Saturday evening, so the traffic wasn't as bad as it might've been on a weekday. The drivers looked awake, but the cars were moving at about one mile per hour. Birds flew overhead in slow motion.

"Kronos," Percy pointed out. "He's slowing time."

"Hecate might be helping," Katie Gardner added. "Look how the cars are all veering away from the Manhattan exits, like they're getting a subconscious message to turn back."

"I don't know." Annabeth sounded really frustrated. "But somehow they've surrounded Manhattan in layers of magic. The outside world might not even realize something is wrong. Any mortals coming toward Manhattan will slow down so much they won't know what's happening."

"Like flies in amber," Jake Mason murmured.

Annabeth nodded. "We shouldn't expect any help coming in."

Percy turned to his friends. They all looked stunned and scared, all except Akira, Shirogane and his dog. They acted as if this happened every day. The shield had shown us at least three hundred enemies on the way. There were forty-three defending Olympus. And they were alone.

"All right, we're going to hold Manhattan." Percy declared.

Silena tugged at her armor. "Um, Percy, Manhattan is huge."

"We are going to hold it, we have to," Percy stubbornly held on.

"He's right," Annabeth said. "The gods of the wind should keep Kronos' forces away from Olympus by air, so he'll try a ground assault. We have to cut off the entrances to the island."

"They have boats," Michael Yew pointed out.

"I'll take care of the boats," Percy said.

Michael frowned. "How?"

"Just leave it to me," Percy assured.

"One question," Will Solace yelled out, "who's that?" he finished while gesturing at Kou. Percy looked over to the person/dog and didn't know how to reply…since he didn't get the name yet. Luckily, Akira cut in and started introducing. "Kou. He's a rei. One of my followers. Or, more like, my only follower at the moment."

"Yo!" Kou winked, "Nice to meet you all."

Everyone nodded as if accepting the explanation before turning their attentions back to Percy, who began issuing out orders. Kou looked slightly crestfallen since no one bothered to reply as enthusiastically as he greeted. Though, he quickly recovered when nudged in the side by Shirogane.

"We need to guard the bridges and tunnels. Let's assume they'll try a midtown or downtown assault, at least on their first try. That would be the most direct way to the Empire State Building. Michael, take Apollo's cabin to the Williamsburg Bridge. Katie, Demeter's cabin takes the Brooklyn- Battery Tunnel. Grow thorn bushes and poison ivy in the tunnel. Do whatever you have to do, but keep them out of there! Conner, take half of Hermes cabin and cover the Manhattan Bridge. Travis, you take the other half and cover the Brooklyn Bridge. And no stopping for looting or pillaging!"

"Awwww!" the entire Hermes cabin complained.

"Silena, take the Aphrodite crew to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel."

"Oh my gods," one of her sisters cried out. "Fifth Avenue is so on our way! We could accessorize, and monsters, like, totally hate the smell of Givenchy."

"No delays," I said. "Well…the perfume thing, if you think it'll work."

Six Aphrodite girls kissed Percy on the cheek in excitement. "All right, enough! The Holland Tunnel. Jake, take the Hephaestus cabin there. Use Greek fire, set traps. Whatever you've got."

He grinned, clearly supporting the plan. "Gladly. We've got a score to settle. For Beckendorf!"

The whole cabin roared in approval.

"The 59th Street Bridge," I said. "Clarisse-"

I faltered. Clarisse wasn't here. The whole Ares cabin, curse them, was sitting back at camp.

"We'll take that," Annabeth stepped in, saving me from an embarrassing silence. She turned to her siblings. "Malcolm, take the Athena cabin, activate plan twenty-three along the way, just like I showed you. Hold that position."

"You got it."  
>"I'll go with Percy," she said. "Then we'll join you, or we'll go wherever we're needed."<p>

Somebody in the back of the group said, "No detours, you two."

There were some giggles. "All right, keep in touch with cell phones."

"We don't have cell phones," Silena protested. I reached down, picked up some snoring lady's BlackBerry, and tossed it to Silena.

"You do now. You all know Annabeth's number, right? If you need us, pick up a random phone and call us. Use it once, drop it, then borrow another one if you have to. That should make it harder for the monsters to zero in on you."

Everyone grinned as though they liked this idea. Travis cleared his throat. "Uh, if we find a really nice phone-"

"No, you can't keep it."

"Aw, man."

"Hold it, Percy," Jake Mason said. "You forgot the Lincoln Tunnel."

Before Percy could ask the kings and Kou to take the tunnel, a girl's voice called from across the street: "How about you leave that to us?"

Everyone looked over to see a band of around thirty adolescent girls crossed Fifth Avenue. They wore white shirts, silvery camouflage pants, and combat boots. They all had swords at their sides, quivers on their backs, and bows at the ready. A pack of white timber wolves milled around their feet, and many of the girls had hunting falcons on their arms.  
>The girl in the lead had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket. She wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess's tiara, which didn't match her skull earrings or her <em>Death to Barbie <em>T-shirt showing a little Barbie doll with an arrow through its head.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried. The daughter of Zeus grinned. "The Hunters of Artemis, reporting for duty."

There were hugs and greetings all around…or at least Thalia was friendly. The other Hunters didn't like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn't shoot anybody, which for them was a pretty warm welcome.

After some warm greetings between the old friends, Percy thanked Thalia for coming at the nick of time.

She shrugged. "Those monsters won't know what hit them. Hunters, move out!"

She slapped her silver bracelet, and the shield Aegis spiraled into full form. The golden head of Medusa molded in the center was so horrible, the campers all backed away. Akira was instantly reminded of the shadow replacement doll, he shuddered at the thought. Said action did not go unnoticed by Shirogane. And with that, he immediately jumped and glomped the younger king.

"Aww, Akira-kun~ are you cold?" Shirogane then asked rather…suggestively in a lower tone, "Do you need me to warm you up?"

A vein popped on Akira's head. He then proceeding to punch Shirogane into oblivion. No words exchanged.

"Aki, how do you put up with him? You have a talent." Kou praised, while sticking a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it. After all, according to him, smoking is cool.

Once Shirogane landed from his trip to the sky, courtesy from Akira, he smoothed out his clothes and met the unsure gazes from the demigods and hunters with a smile.

The Hunters took off down the avenue without a second thought, followed by their wolves and falcons.

"Thank the gods," Annabeth said. "But if we don't blockade the rivers from those boats, guarding the bridges and tunnels will be pointless."

"You're right, and as for Shirogane and Akira…er…sama and Kou, can you guys help out wherever you can?" Percy asked. He received nods in response. "You're the greatest heroes of this millennium," he told the campers. "It doesn't matter how many monsters come at you. Fight bravely, and we will win." he raised Riptide and shouted, "FOR OLYMPUS!"

They shouted in response, and our forty voices echoed off the buildings of Midtown. For a moment it sounded brave, but it died quickly in the silence of ten million sleeping New Yorkers.

* * *

><p>After all the campers took off to their assigned destinations, Kou, Akira and Shirogane stayed behind, to discuss some things between themselves. They three of them decided to transform into their more "battle-easy" forms. With Kou, his clothes became the white suit with black strips tied all around his body. The single metal claw on his middle finger multiplied to cover all of his fingers on both hands. The term "iron fist" fits the description perfectly.<p>

On the other hand, for Shirogane and Akira, their current attire rearranged themselves in the form of tiny pixels. Shirogane's clothes became black robes with a white trim. He also had on a black cape with the same white trim. His cane merged into a black katana. And to complete his transformation, his long white hair was freed from the golden band that held it in a braid.

As for Akira, he went through the most drastic change in clothes out of the others. His shin form's clothes were replaced by red shirt and a white coat to cover. His black pants became longer; long enough to cover his boots. His cape was also white and with a red trim. His two blades became one big one.

With all change of clothes done and over with. The three decided to split the bridges and tunnels between themselves. Kou and Akira were to take the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges and the Brooklyn Battery and Holland Tunnels. Shirogane would be going north to the Queens Midtown and Lincoln Tunnels and the 59th Street Bridge to help out there. And there, they parted ways.

* * *

><p>Jumping from building to building, Akira and Kou made their way south to the tunnels and bridges they were assigned. They decided to go to the tunnels to cut down some monsters before going to the bridges to help. Kou headed for the Holland Tunnel to join the Hephaestus cabin. And Akira headed for the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to meet with the Demeter cabin.<p>

Akira arrived at the tunnel in a few minutes. The Demeter cabin didn't seem to be there yet, so he took off into the tunnel to estimate how long it would take for the monsters to get through. Estimating that they had enough time, he headed back out of the tunnel to wait for the cabin to arrive.

Around 5 minutes later, the Demeter cabin finally made their appearance. They weren't surprised to see Akira waiting for them. But they were in his change in appearance…and the giant saw in his hand.

"All right, I'll go in and chop as many monsters as I can. And you guys grow thorns and bushes to block the monsters from advancing any further. I'll fight till I get to the end of the tunnel and exit out the other side. Then I'll leave you to defend this place while I go to the bridges. Sound good? Great. Let's go." With that self-declaration, Akira ran off into the tunnel; leaving gaping Demeter kids in the back.

Not halfway through the tunnel, he ran into some _empousai_. With his trusty blade in hand, he sliced them down without a second thought before heading down to kill more monsters. By the time he got near the end of the tunnel, all he had sliced were _empousai_ and to say the least, he was quite bored. He turned around to stab an _empousa_ when he felt a presence behind him. Turning around he found a giant club, right about to smash him into pulp.

**Hehees. Cliff hanger once again xD. Next chapter should be faster. But that will happen after I finish my summer reading. Byes!**

**Please review**


	6. AN: Story will be rewritten

**A little note~**

**I'm sorry. So very very sorry -_'-. I know I haven't updated in…two months…three maybe? I'm not sure anymore. But. I reread the story last night and I wasn't very proud of my writing skills. Sadly enough, I will be straightening out the plot and rewriting every single chapter clearer. When I finish with planning it out and rewriting it, I will post the new and revised version and delete this story. Be aware. Some major details of the story MIGHT change if I think of a better way to write up SoM. **

**Thank you to those who have taken their time to read this story! The newer version will definitely be better than this one!**

**~GuMMi **


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